Third-rail protector



N 748,592. BA-TENTED JAN. 5-, 1904. 4

H.-F. DUFFY. THIRD RAIL PROTECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20,1903.

no MODEL.

awuewboz UNITED STATES Patented January 5. 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

THIRD-RAIL PROTECTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 748,592, dated January 5, 1904.

Application filed June 20, 1903. Serial No. 162,408. (No model.)

. for the third rail of electric railways; and the objects of the same are to provide a cover or protector made in short sections and adapted to be displaced by the contact-shoe as it passes along the third rail and to provide means whereby the sections of the cover or protector resume their normal positions after the shoe has passed each of the sections referred to.

It is very desirable in third-rail electrical car service to provide some means for preventing the contact of pedestrians and stock with the third rail, thus preventing injury or loss of life, and it is also very desirable to protect the third rail from snow, ice, or sleet in the winter-time. My invention is designed to accomplish these desirable purposes.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a portion of a third rail covered and protected in accordance with my invention and showing the contact-shoe in the position which it occupies in displacing the cover or protector. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of a slight modification of my invention.

Like numerals of reference designate like parts wherever they occur in the different views of the drawings.

The numeral 1 designates the third rail secured in the ordinary way to the ties 2.

My protector or cover consists of a strip or back piece 3, secured in any suitable manner in an upright position to the ties 2. A strip 4 of similar construction is secured to the opposite or front side of the rail. The coversections 5, which maybe constructed of metal, wood, or some non-conducting material, have rounded ends 6, as shown in Fig. 1, and, as shown, they may alternately over and under lap each other at their adjacent ends, and a curved iron rod 7 is secured by rivets or other fastenings 8 near the rear edge of the protectors 5 near each end, said curved rods at their lower portions being passed loosely through apertures 9 in the back piece 3, through an aperture in the third rail 1, and through a registering hole 10 in the front strip 4. An eye 11 is formed on the front end of the curved rod 7, and a cord or chain 12 is secured at one end to the eye 11, said cord or chain passing over a pulley 13, secured to a bracket 14, bolted to the ties 2, as shown in Fig. 1. Upon the opposite end of the cord or chain 12 a weight 15 is attached, said weight being located in a box or housing 16, set into the ground under the ties. The contact-shoe 17, which may be of any suitable construction, is secured to an arm 18, which extends to the side of the cars, in any suitable manner.

As shown in Fig. 3, instead of using the cord or chain 12 I may utilize a bell-crank lever 19, one end of which is pivoted at to the curved rod 7 and the opposite end may carry a couuterbalancing-weight 2 1, which may be adjusted upon the end of the bellcrank lever by means of a set-screw 22. The bell-crank lever 19 is pivoted at 23 to a bracket 24, suitably secured to the ties or to the front piece 4.

The operation of myinvention will be readily understood from the foregoing. The shoe 17 in passing along in contact with the third rail 1 engages the curved ends of and pushes the cover-sections 5 backward to uncover the rail, and as the shoe passes along the weight 15 exerts sufficient force to return the cover 5 to its normal position.

My'invention is comparatively simple in construction and serves a very desirable purpose in third-rail electrical car systems.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent and claim is 1. The combination" with a third rail, of a suitably-supported sliding cover, a rod secured thereto, the rod adapted to have a bearing in the rail and means secured to the rod for returning the cover to its normal position.

2. The combination with a third rail, .of a housing, a series of laterally-movable covers, a series of rods secured thereto, the rods each adapted to have a bearing in and pass through the housing and means connected withthe rods for returning the covers to their normal positions after displacement.

5. The combination with a rail, of a series :5

of covers, rods secured thereto and a counterbalance pivotally secured to the rods.

6. The combination with a rail, of a sliding cover, a rod secured thereto, and sliding therewith and means connected with the rod for automatically returning the cover to its normal position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY F. DUFFY.

Witnesses:

P. P. CARROLL, W. J. DALY. 

